


Backwards Relationship

by camichats



Category: The Witcher (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern: No Powers, F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:54:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24279928
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Going to a wedding as Geralt's date wouldn't have been a problem, except Jaskier's husband tells everyone the two of them are engaged, and Renfri's father catches wind of it.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia/Renfri | Shrike
Kudos: 37





	Backwards Relationship

The problem with Geralt being her best friend is that he always used the least amount of words possible in any given situation. Most of the time, that was fine. Very often, it was actually amusing-- like when Renfri asked if he liked Thai food and he responded that he ate food; she couldn't stop laughing for so long afterwards that it got hard to breathe and there were tears leaking out of her eyes. But when it was something serious, it was pulling teeth to get him to admit all the important parts. 

Unfortunately, this was one of those more difficult times. He was calling her phone, and as soon as she answered, "Hello?" she barely managed to get the word out because he cut in. 

"I need you to go on a date with me." 

She'd heard Geralt ask people out before. It didn't sound like this. That was disappointing, but not unexpected. They'd been friends for a decade; if he wasn't in love with her yet, he wasn't going to be. "Uh-huh. How's that?" 

"Jaskier's wedding." 

"Jaskier's getting married?" Renfri had only met him a handful of times, but he didn't seem the kind to get married. 

"Yes." 

"And what does that have to do with me going on a date with you?" 

Geralt grumbled something unintelligible. 

"In words I can actually understand," she clarified. 

Geralt sighed, like this was a great inconvenience to him, and said, "His fiance gave me a plus one seat without asking and assumed that I would be bringing my partner." 

"Okay," she said slowly. "And?" 

"And then he paid for the dinner without checking with me, and Jaskier said I have to come before I make his fiance cry. Again." 

"I'm seeing how this translates to me coming to the wedding with you, but I'm not seeing the part where it has to be a date." 

"Apparently," Geralt said with a growl to his voice that meant he thought this was stupid and didn't want her to think it was his idea, "correcting Jaskier's fiance about such topics is detrimental to his constitution." 

Renfri snorted, then started laughing. "'Detrimental to his constitution'? Did Jaskier find himself a bridezilla who has the occasional fainting spell?" 

"Yes." 

"I've got to see this. What day is it?" 

"The fifteenth, next month." 

"Amazing. I'll be there. Send me the details. And I'm not driving," she added quickly. She hated driving. 

"I know," Geralt said, tone conveying that he thought it was unnecessary she felt the need to remind him. Which was fair, since Geralt seemed to remember every little thing she told him, but she was in the habit of giving that reminder as often as she could. Just because she _had_ a driver's license didn't mean that she wanted to _use_ it. "Are we still on for dinner?" 

Take-out and Bollywood musicals while they talked shit about their coworkers and updated each other on the progress for their current projects. "Absolutely. Do you feel like braving my attempts at curry?" 

Silence. 

She let it last for seven seconds before cracking, laughing loudly enough that people stared at her a little. She thought about flipping them off but elected to ignore them instead. "Relax, I learned my lesson the last couple times. We're ordering from Taki's, as usual. Feel better?" 

He gave an affirmative grunt. 

"Mmhmm. See you at five," she said, then hung up. Ugh, she had to finish shopping, and she didn't feel like it. 

* * *

Jaskier had called both of them ahead of time-- well, he called Geralt, and Renfri happened to be there so he lectured both of them-- to make sure that they dressed appropriately. It had basically been Jaskier telling them over and over that he _knows_ they don't like to dress up and that Geralt was able to get out of being a groomsman, but there were going to be pictures so they _had_ to look nice. Again, most of this was directed at Geralt, but Jaskier decided to include Renfri because he figured if they were best friends, they likely had similar taste in clothes; he wasn't really wrong. The conversation ended when Geralt said, in no uncertain terms, that he knew how to dress for a fucking wedding so shut up, and ended the call. 

Then Geralt turned to her and asked what she was wearing. She dragged him to her room and pulled out one of her two formal dresses-- one was for events with her friends, the other was for events with her family. One was bright red, sleeveless, and sparkly, meant to draw attention; the other was a forest green and often described as being 'too boring for how pretty you are'. She was planning on wearing the green one, which she wore around her friends. 

"What about you?" 

"Hmph. I'll have to go shopping." 

"You have a suit." 

"Not one that matches you." 

"While that's a nice thought, I'm not sure we care that much. Your normal black suit will be fine." 

Geralt looked relieved at being given an out from having to go shopping, and he relaxed again. 

* * *

"This is Jaskier's friend Geralt," Jaskier's newly minted husband introduced, "and his fiance." 

Geralt blinked, and Renfri's grip on his arm tightened in surprise. 

Later, when Geralt managed to track him down, Jaskier waved it off. "My dear sweet Geralt, I have no idea why my love would say that. _I_ certainly didn't tell him that." 

"He's telling it to every single person at this wedding," Renfri said flatly. 

"I don't care what he thinks, just tell him to stop it." 

Jaskier gave an over dramatic wince that, for Jaskier, was probably a normal wince. Fucking actors. "Yes, um, about that." 

"What." 

"What harm would it really do? Your two best friends are right here, so there's no one to find out and get mad at you. Trust me," he said, clapping a hand on both of their shoulders, "one night of some drunken arseholes thinking you're engaged won't ruin anything for you." With that, he got pulled away for a dance by one of his friends/ex-girlfriends. 

"I no longer like him," Renfri said. 

Geralt nodded. 

"He's not funny." 

He grunted in agreement. 

"And I don't like his singing." 

Geralt snorted. "Want a drink?" 

"Open bar, right? Sure, drown me." 

* * *

It was _not_ a one night thing. Renfri knows, because her father called her, immediately babbling about caterers and venues and asking who her wedding planner was. She didn't get a single word in before he was hanging up with promises of getting her the best help money could buy. 

**_My father is looking up wedding planners,_ ** she texted Geralt. **_Your friend Jaskier is about to sing a quick goodbye to his FUCKING HUSBAND._ **

It took a minute for a response to come in, after a few tries of the typing bubble appearing and disappearing. **I'll help.**

* * *

Renfri felt like pounding her head against the table. Nothing else had gotten through to her father, so she gave in to the impulse and methodically thunked her forehead against the hard wood. 

"Renfri darling," he said, sticking his hand between her head and the surface of the table, "I know that weddings are stressful, but there's no need for that. Grimhilde had a few difficult times during the course of our engagement, but it all turned out in the end. Your wedding day should be magical; a day you never forget." 

Renfri let out a loud, annoyed groan. Every single time she tried to tell him that she wasn't getting married, he thought it was just nerves or insecurity. As far as she was aware, he hadn't actually managed to pin down a wedding planner yet, so she was thankful for small favours. She pushed herself up from the table. "I'm going to call Geralt," she said, already dialing his number as she left the room. 

"My father is driving me absolutely batshit." 

" _Not surprised. What about your stepmother?_ " 

"I think she's electing to ignore that I'm getting married entirely, which means that I actually like her more than my father right now. A sentence I never thought I'd have cause to say, by the way." 

" _Hm._ " 

"I don't suppose you want to come over here and back me up? All I need you to do is nod and agree with me when I say that we're not engaged." 

" _Right now?_ " 

"If you're free. If not, we can do it whenever you are free." 

" _I'll be there soon._ " 

She let out a relieved breath. "Thank you so much. Love you." 

"Love you," he grunted, and they hung up. He really was the best friend. He would also make the best fiance, if he ever found himself in that position, but she wasn't going to be able to enjoy that personally. 

* * *

**One year later**

"They're not going to believe me," Renfri said, looking adoringly at the plain black wedding band on her ring finger. 

"Do they need to?" Geralt asked. He had a matching wedding band on his own hand. He'd wanted silver, but she was allergic. She'd wanted gold, but he hated the color. They'd compromised on black, and honestly, she was glad that she didn't have an engagement ring with a rock in it that could mess up the form of her hand when she needed to get it in smaller spaces. 

"Not really." Their marriage certificate was legal, and they were living together. What people chose to believe about it hardly mattered. "But it's hilarious that no one believed us when we said we weren't together." 

Geralt grunted noncommittally, as if she didn't know that he agreed with her. 

Mostly though, it was funny that he'd come to her parent's house to get it our of their heads that they were engaged, and then he'd asked her on a date when they were leaving the driveway. And, of course, she'd said yes. After a sneak preview of what an announced engagement would do to them, Geralt had asked, she'd said yes, and they immediately went to the courthouse to get a license. 


End file.
